AUBURN, Alabama -- It's been awhile since Brian VanGorder recruited around the SEC, but that doesn't mean Auburn's new defensive coordinator is out of touch.

Indeed, says he'll be wiser when he begins to visit recruits in their homes Friday.

"I feel like as a father of five that I understand the 17-, 18-year-old young man much better than I did seven or eight years ago," he says. "I have three in college right now as a matter of fact."

VanGorder, 52, was formally introduced as the Tigers' defensive coordinator Wednesday after leaving the Atlanta Falcons as their defensive coordinator Monday. He is expected to sign a multi-year contract worth approximately $850,000 a year. That will make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in school history and one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in the country. Auburn's last defensive coordinator, Ted Roof, made $500,000 in 2011. Gus Malzahn made $1.3 million in 2011 as the Tigers' offensive coordinator.

Auburn paid its assistant coaches more than any team in the country in 2011. VanGorder's salary signals Chizik's emphasis on improving a defense that has struggled on the NCAA stat sheet.

VanGorder promised on his arrival that he'll run a 4-3 defense, which coach Gene Chizik likes, and that he'll easily make the switch back to college coaching.

"One down, one to go," he said. "There's no timeline. I feel like we're in a really good place. And as soon as I feel like we've come to the best person that's best for the job, we're going to do it."

It took Chizik 33 days to replace Roof with VanGorder. It's been 29 days since Malzahn announced he was leaving for Arkansas State.

Chizik emphasized that VanGorder was his first choice on defense.

"There was one guy that I talked to. Not five. Not 10. One," he said. "I was going to exhaust every avenue that I could before I moved on to guy No. 2, which it never got to that place."

VanGorder recruited the SEC when he was Georgia's defensive coordinator from 2001-04.

"I think Auburn has a lot of great things to present to a young man," he said. "I look forward to being honest and up front about the opportunity that a young man has here at Auburn and what we think we can do in terms of their development."

VanGorder will likely coach linebackers, although he said that would be Chizik's call as the coaching staff is set.

VanGorder's defensive philosophy rings of old-school football.

"We talk about effort to the football and our ability to run to the football," he said.

And that's out of a defense featuring four linemen and three linebackers.

VanGorder said he'd have no trouble switching back to college football after five straight years in pro ball.

"You have more of an influence than you do at the NFL level, but when you start talking about X's and O's and standards and expectations with a group, it is very similar and not as different as people might think," he said.